The Professional Development Specialist serves as an advanced Nurse Professional Development (NPD) practitioner accountable for the design, standardization, and evaluation of system-wide educational strategies, programs, and competency frameworks. This role leads the development and operationalization of education governance to ensure consistency, quality, regulatory compliance, and efficient use of organizational resources across all entities.
The Specialist partners with leaders, subject matter experts, frontline educators, and other key stakeholders to translate organizational priorities into scalable learning and workforce development solutions that improve clinical quality, patient safety, workforce readiness, and staff retention while reducing variation, duplication, and costs associated with onboarding inefficiencies, turnover, and regulatory risk.
Operating at a systems level, the Professional Development Specialist drives innovation in education and leads large-scale workforce and practice initiatives that standardize onboarding, competency validation, and professional development processes across the organization. This role centralizes program design, governance, and standardization to optimize resource utilization and reduce duplication of effort.
Through data-driven decision-making, the Professional Development Specialist evaluates the impact of educational initiatives on organizational, clinical, and workforce outcomes, including time-to-productivity, competency compliance, and retention, and leads continuous improvement efforts that support high reliability care and operational efficiency.
Core ResponsibilitiesSystem Education Strategy, Governance, and Design
- Leads the development and sustainment of system-wide education strategy, frameworks, and governance structures to ensure consistency, quality, regulatory compliance, and efficient use of resources across all entities.
- Defines and maintains standardized educational models, curricula, and competency frameworks that reduce variation and support scalable implementation across the system.
- Establishes and enforces standards for instructional design, delivery, and evaluation to eliminate redundancy and promote consistent, high-quality learning experiences.
- Partners with executive and clinical leadership to identify enterprise learning needs and translate organizational priorities into strategic education plans that align with workforce and financial objectives.
- Collaborates with Professional Development Educators, leaders, and frontline staff to create education content and programs that conform to organizational standards while addressing the unique needs of diverse practice settings, professional disciplines, and patient populations.
- Facilitates and ensures effective and efficient education and development delivery across the health system.
Program Development and Standardization
- Designs, implements, and continuously improves system-level programs (e.g., onboarding, transition to practice, competency validation, leadership development, specialty pathways) to improve workforce readiness and reduce variability in practice.
- Develops and maintains standardized educational content, tools, and resources to optimize use of system resources and reduce duplication across departments and sites.
- Ensures all educational programming aligns with regulatory, accreditation, and professional standards to mitigate compliance risk and support survey readiness.
Competency Management & Practice Alignment
- Provides system-level oversight of competency programs, ensuring alignment with clinical practice standards, organizational priorities, and regulatory requirements.
- Standardizes processes for initial and ongoing competency validation, assessment, and documentation to ensure consistency and reduce risk associated with variable practice.
- Integrates clinical judgment, critical thinking, and evidence-based practice into competency frameworks to support safe, high-quality patient care.
Quality Outcomes, Measurement, and Continuous Learning
- Establishes and monitors key performance indicators and dashboards to assess effectiveness, identify gaps, and drive data-informed decision-making.
- Applies quality improvement and change management methodologies to reduce variation, improve efficiency, and sustain practice change across the system.
- Leads evaluation of educational initiatives using defined metrics, including impact on:
- Clinical quality and patient safety outcomes
- Time-to-productivity and onboarding efficiency
- Staff retention and workforce stability
- Competency compliance and regulatory readiness
Professional Leadership & Role Development
- Functions in advanced NPD roles including leader, change agent, consultant, and educator at a systems level.
- Leads or contributes to system-wide committees, councils, and governance structures to advance education, quality, and professional practice.
- Maintains advanced knowledge of trends, emerging evidence, and best practices in nursing professional development and healthcare education.
- Contributes to the advancement of the profession through program innovation, scholarship, presentations, or dissemination of best practices.
EducationMaster's degree in nursing or related field required
Experience5 years of recent clinical, educational, or nursing leadership experience is required.
3+ years of NPD or nursing education experience is preferred.
Certification & LicensuresNursing Professional Development Board Certification (NPD-BC) is preferred at the time of hire. NPD-BC is required within 18 months of hire.
Basic Life Support (BLS) certification
QualificationsBased on primary state of residency and in accordance with current Virginia and West Virginia Board of Nursing Regulations, must be licensed or eligible to practice pending licensure as a Registered Nurse in the Commonwealth of Virginia with a Multi-state license, or in West Virginia with a multi-state license.
BenefitsAt Valley Health, we believe everyone is a caregiver, and our goal is to create an environment where our caregivers thrive physically, financially, and emotionally. In addition to a competitive salary, our most popular benefits for full-time employees include:
- A Zero-Deductible Health Plan
- Dental and vision insurance
- Generous Paid Time Off
- Tuition Assistance
- Retirement Savings Match
- A Robust Employee Assistance Program to help with many aspects of emotional wellbeing
- Membership to Healthy U: An Incentive-Based Wellness Program
Valley Health also offers a health savings account & flexible spending account for childcare, life insurance, short-term and long-term disability, and professional development. In addition, several perks come with working for the largest employer in the region, such as discounts to on-campus dining, and more.
To see the full scale of what we offer, visit valleyhealthbenefits.com.
